RACE INFORMATION

Smith wins at Daytona: #7-Regan Smith won the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway, beating #22-Brad Keselowski to the finish line by .013 seconds. It was the 7th closest finish in Nationwide Series history. They were followed by #6-Trevor Bayne, #54-Kyle Busch, #11-Elliott Sadler, #62-Brendan Gaughan, #3-Ty Dillon, #31-Dylan Kwasniewski, #39-Ryan Sieg, and #42-Kyle Larson.
There were 5 cautions for 20 laps and 9 lead changes among 6 leaders. Complete results are on the Daytona race results page (pdf).
See OFFICIAL race results & points standings on the Official Daytona Race & Points Report (pdf).(2-22-2014)

Daytona Race Fast Facts:
Regan Smith won the 33rd Annual DRIVE4COPD 300, his fourth victory in 137 NASCAR Nationwide Series races.
The Margin of Victory (0.017) of today's event was the seventh closest all-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and second closest in series history at Daytona International Speedway.
This is his first victory and second top-10 finish in nine races at Daytona International Speedway.
Brad Keselowski(i) (second) posted his fifth top-10 finish in 12 races at Daytona International Speedway. It is his first top-10 finish in 2014
Trevor Bayne (third) posted his third top-10 finish in eight races at Daytona International Speedway.
Ty Dillon (seventh) was the highest finishing rookie.
Regan Smith leads the point standings by 6 points over Trevor Bayne.
(NASCAR Integrated Marketing)(2-22-2014)

Kwasniewski on pole at Daytona: #31-Dylan Kwasniewski won the 21 Means 21 pole (not the Coors Light pole because he's not 21 yet) for the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway with a speed of 192.078mph. #42-Kyle Larson will start second. The rest of the top 10: #30-Danica Patrick, #54-Kyle Busch, #11-Elliott Sadler, #20-Matt Kenseth, #55-Jamie Dick, #91-Jeff Green, #80-Johnny Sauter, and #10-David Starr. Rain cut the session short, with only the first session being completed after several delays. Did Not Qualify: #13-Carl Long, #15-Carlos Contreras, #17-Tanner Berryhill,#37-Matt DiBenedetto, #60-Chris Buescher, #67-Clay Greenfield, #76-Willie Allen, #93-Matt Carter, #98-David Ragan. The starting lineup is posted on the Daytona starting lineup page (pdf).(2-21-2014)

Daytona Qualifying Notes:
Dylan Kwasniewski won the 21 Means 21 Pole Award for the 33rd Annual DRIVE4COPD 300 with a lap of 46.856 seconds, 192.078 mph.
This is his first pole in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
This is his first pole at Daytona International Speedway in NASCAR national series competition.
Kyle Larson(i) (second) posted his first top-10 start of 2014 and his first in three races at Daytona International Speedway.
Danica Patrick(i) (third) posted her fifth top-10 start at Daytona International Speedway. It is her first this season.
Dylan Kwasniewski (first) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
Kwasniewski becomes the first rookie to win a pole in his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut since Scott Speed did it at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2009.
Kwasniewski is the first rookie contender to post a pole at Daytona International Speedway in his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut since NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace did it in 1985.(NASCAR Integrated Marketing)(2-21-2014)

Entry List:There are 46 cars on the preliminary entry list for Saturday's season-opening DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway. A few notes:
Jason White will be in the #00 for SR2;
The JD Motorsports #4 driver is TBA;
The TriStar Motorsports #10 driver is TBA;
Josh Wise will drive The Motorsports Group #40;
Clay Greenfield will drive the #67 for Martins Motorsports;
Derrike Cope is in the #70, which was formerly owned by ML Motorsports;
Not on the list but expected to be added: #52 Jimmy Means Racing with Joey Gase.
(2-18-2014)UPDATE: The #52 team has now been added. David Starr will be i the #10.(2-18-2014)UPDATE 2: #17 Tanner Berryhill & #37-Matt Debenedetto have been added. There are now 49 on the entry list.(2-18-2014)
See the complete list on the Daytona entry list page.

NASCAR Nationwide Series Opener Live on ESPN: The 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series season kicks off with a 300-mile race at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 22, and ESPN will have a live telecast. NASCAR Countdown airs at noon ET while the green flag will fly at 1:34pm/et. Also from the 2.5-mile Daytona track, ESPN2 will televise NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying on Friday, Feb. 21, at 1:00pm/et. The race telecast will air on ESPN Deportes at 4am/et on Sunday, Feb. 23. All NASCAR programming on ESPN and ESPN2 is available on computers, smartphones, tablets, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Apple TV and Roku via WatchESPN, accessible to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliate provider.(ESPN)(2-17-2014)

Goodyear Tires Notes / Fast Facts

Tire: Goodyear Eagle Superspeedway Radials

Set limits:
Daytona 500: 10 sets for practice/qualifying/Duels; 10 sets for the race;
Nationwide: 5 sets for the event;
Camping World Truck: 4 sets for the event

Notes: Teams in all three NASCAR series will run the same tire codes at Daytona . . . this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires that NASCAR teams ran at Daytona last July and Talladega last October . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions at Daytona . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.

NASCAR News & Notes

Ty Dillon Follows Up His Brother's Championship Run In The No. 3

When Richard Childress Racing announced the news late last year that reigning NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Austin Dillon was moving fulltime to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2014, his departure guaranteed a new champion would be crowned in 2014 while also opened a seat in the No. 3 Chevrolet.
Enter Austin's younger brother Ty Dillon. The younger grandson of team owner Richard Childress moves up from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series where he was the championship runner-up to Matt Crafton in 2013. In 2012, Dillon won the series' Sunoco Rookie of the Year honor.
Ty, two years younger than Austin, leads a young, talented group of Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders that also includes Chase Elliott, Dylan Kwasniewski and Ryan Reed. Dillon hopes that some of his brother's success in the No. 3 rubs off. In addition to his title in 2013, the older Dillon won the series' Sunoco Rookie of the Year award the previous year.
When the NASCAR Nationwide contingent arrives in Daytona for Saturday's DRIVE4COPD 300 (1:15 p.m. ET, ESPN), Ty brings with him a limited resume in the series. In nine series starts, the 21-year-old North Carolina native has one top-five finish (third at Indy in 2012) and four top-10 finishes.
In last year's July Daytona race - his only NNS start at the 2.5-mile superspeedway - he finished on the lead lap in 27th position. In two truck series starts at the track, he has finishes of ninth (2012) and sixth (2013). He led 56 of 100 laps in the 2013 truck series event.
The three other rookies have never competed in a national series event on the high banks of Daytona. Of the three only Reed has competed in a NASCAR Nationwide race. In 2013, he ran six races for Roush Fenway Racing with a best finish of ninth at Richmond International Raceway.

Heightened Expectations For Several Teams

When the 2013 season concluded, there were questions aplenty regarding where some drivers would land in 2014. For certain there was a lot of jostling as driver lineups and negotiations were finalized.
As the season-opening DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway draws near, the dust - for the most part - has settled. Let's take a look at several of the teams.
JR Motorsports: With title contender Regan Smith back and teaming with Chase Elliott, along with co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. running a partial schedule, the team has one of its strongest lineups in years.
Roush Fenway Racing: Jack Roush has returned to his old ways of developing young talent (i.e. Trevor Bayne, Chris Buescher, and Ryan Reed) that has made his organization a title threat.
Joe Gibbs Racing: Full-time driver Elliott Sadler and his team will be under a lot of pressure to improve. The No. 20 and No. 54 Toyotas will compete fulltime in 2014, but will be shared by several drivers.
Team Penske: Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano, who all posted wins in the No. 22 in 2013, will split time in the same race car during the upcoming season.
Richard Childress Racing: A strong lineup returns with Brian Scott, Ty Dillon and Brendan Gaughan all gearing up for full-time schedules.

NSCS Drivers Have History In The NASCAR Nationwide Series

Saturday's DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona will be a homecoming of sorts for the NSCS regulars entered in the season-opening NASCAR Nationwide race.
All eight NSCS regulars entered in the race have one thing in common: They all competed in NASCAR's No. 2 series before heading to the premier series. Three of them even have NNS titles: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1998-99), Kyle Busch (2009) and Brad Keselowski (2010).
Collectively, the group - which also includes Kyle Larson, Matt Kenseth, Danica Patrick, David Ragan and Josh Wise - has compiled 1,183 starts, 143 wins, 458 top fives and 652 top 10s in the series.
Earnhardt raced fulltime in only two seasons (1998-99), while Busch completed his first full season in 2004, a year prior to his first full season in the NSCS. Keselowski made his first NNS start in 2006 at Auto Club.
Larson ran his first NNS season last year before moving up for 2014. Kenseth made 48 starts before competing for the first time in the NSCS. Patrick ran fulltime once (2012) before her moving to the premier series last season. Ragan made seven starts in the NNS before starting his first full-time season in the NSCS in 2007. Wise already had 72 starts before his first premier series start in 2011.

NASCAR Nationwide Series Etc.

On Tuesday, Ty Dillon enjoyed a bucket-list type of experience, flying with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbird team in Daytona Beach, Fla. ... Carlos Contreras of Mexico City, Mexico, returns to NNS action after last competing in the series at Kentucky in 2007. ... Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Dylan Kwasniewski will make his series debut this Saturday at Daytona - the same track at which he led NNS testing back in January with a fast lap of 190.022 mph. Chase Elliott and Chad Boat will also make series debuts this weekend.